Wog

For other uses, see WOG (disambiguation).

Wog or Pog is a slang word with a number of meanings, sometimes considered derogatory and, in some instances, offensive when used in relation to ethnicity. The term is essentially used differently within the UK and Australian context: in the United Kingdom, historically it referred to "dark skinned" people and in its modern usage is considered overtly racist and is not used in polite conversation. In Australian English the term is a pejorative for migrants from the mostly the Mediterranean, though in recent decades its offensiveness has been defused in certain contexts by common usage in pop-culture produced by the descendants of Mediterranean immigrants.

Australian English

As with other slang and prima-facie profanity used in contemporary Australian English, the ethnic term "wog" may be employed either aggressively or affectionately within differing contexts.

In Australia, the term was applied to Post World War II migrants from the Mediterranean region and occasionally Eastern Europe, particularly the Greek, Italian, Spaniard & Hispanic, Lebanese, Turkish, Macedonian, Croatian and Serbian communities in Melbourne and Sydney, - which contrasted with the dominant Anglo-Saxon stock of the Australian population.

More recently Mediterranean-Australian performing artists have taken ownership of the term "wog", defusing its original pejorative nature - the popular early 1990s stage show Wogs Out of Work created by Nick Giannopoulos and Simon Palomares was an early example. The production was followed on television with Acropolis Now, starring Giannopoulos, Palomares, George Kapiniaris, Alan Dyepoulos and Mary Coustas, and films The Wog Boy and Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos and parodies such as those of Santo Cilauro, Eric Bana, Vince Colosimo, Nick Giannopoulos, Mary Coustas and SBS Television's offbeat Pizza TV series have continued this change in Australian cultural history - with some even classifying a genre of 'wogsploitation' of pop-culture products being created by and for a proudly "wog" market. Recent works of the genre have been used by Australians of non-English speaking backgrounds to assert ethnic identity, rather than succumb to ethnic stereotype. Upon the release of Wog Boy 2, Giannopoulos discussed the contemporary use of the term "wog" in the Australian context:

I think by defusing the word 'wog' we've shown our maturity and our great ability to adapt and just laugh things off, you know... When I first came [to Greece] and I started trying to explain to them why we got called 'wog' they'd get really angry about it, you know. They were, "Why? Why they say this about the Greek people?" You know? But then when they see what we've done with it - and this is the twist - that we've turned it into a term of endearment, they actually really get into that...

Thus, in contemporary Australia, the term "wog" may, in certain contexts, be viewed as a "nickname" rather than a pejorative term - akin to the nicknames ascribed within Australian English to other historically significant cultural groupings such as the English (nicknamed Poms), the Americans (nicknamed Yanks) and New Zealanders (nicknamed Kiwis).

British English

Wog in the UK is usually regarded as a racially offensive slang word referring to a dark-skinned or olive-skinned person from Africa or Asia. It can be applied to any darker-skinned people, but is particularly applied to Afro-Caribbeans, as well as immigrants from the Middle-East and Mediterranean. Most dictionaries refer to the word as derogatory and offensive.

The origin of the term is unknown, though unsupported folk etymology has much to say. It is suspected that the term WOG involves the British involvement in India and Pakistan with the term WOG referring to the indigenous populace. The term WOG literally means WithOut God. Many dictionaries say "wog" derives from the Golliwogg, a blackface minstrel doll character from a children's book published in 1895. An alternative is that "wog" originates from Pollywog, a maritime term for someone who has not crossed the equator. Various acronymical origins like "worthy/wily oriental gentlemen" have been suggested, although the term appears to predate the regular use of acronyms. It was first noted by lexicographer F.C. Bowen, who recorded it in 1929 in his Sea slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as "lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast."

The saying "The wogs begin at Calais" was originated by George Wigg, Labour MP for Dudley, in 1949. In a parliamentary debate concerning the Burmese, Wigg shouted at the Conservative benches, "The Honourable Gentleman and his friends think they are all 'wogs'. Indeed, the Right Honourable Member for Woodford [i.e. Winston Churchill] thinks that the 'wogs' begin at Calais." Wigg's coinage, sometimes paraphrased as "Wogs start at the Channel" or "Wogs start at Dover", is used to characterise a "stodgy Europhobic" viewpoint, and more generally the view that Britain (more so England) is inherently separate from and superior to the Continent. In this case, "wog" is used to compare any foreign, non-British person to those more traditionally labelled "wogs".

American English

In the United States, "Wog" is simply short for Pollywog, the navy term for sailors who have yet to cross the equator in the line-crossing ceremony, and has no racial associations.

Scientology

Amongst Scientologists, wog is used as a disparaging word for non-scientologists. Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard defined wog as a "common, everyday garden-variety humanoid ... He 'is' a body. [He] doesn't know he's there, etc. He isn't there as a spirit at all. He is not operating as a thetan.

L. Ron Hubbard employed the term in some of his lectures and writings.

Since wog is not in general use in American English, Hubbard may have picked it up during his period of service as a US naval officer during World War II (1941–1945), or in England, where he lived from 1953 to 1966.

Scientologists claim the term wog has no racist overtones, even in the UK where that meaning is prevalent. From a 2004 Church of Scientology magazine: "I arrived at Saint Hill shy, introverted and somewhat out of valence. I had been working at a wog job, and I knew my priorities had to change ..."

Other meanings

• "Wog", short for "wogglebug", extraterrestrials in Philip Jose Farmer's celebrated 1952 novella, The Lovers. (This name is in turn derived from Professor Woggle-Bug, a character in L. Frank Baum's Oz book series.)
• In David Drake's RCN Series, wog is used by citizens of the Republic of Cinnabar as a derogatory term for anyone not from Cinnabar, paralleling the British use of the term to describe non-Britons.
• WOG, is also used as slang in the Canadian Army, meaning "Without Guts", or "Without Guns". Used as a derogitory term by the infantry towards support trades.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Non-slang acronym

Various acronymical uses are recorded, for example, WithOut Guarantee, Weight On Ground (aviation). WOG or "W.O.G." appears, always in capitals, on certain types or models of block or check valves, indicating they are suitable for "water-oil-gas" service, where gas normally means natural gas or propane. The letters are usually raised, having been cast with the valve body. 'WoG.com' stands for 'World of Goals', which many consider to be a poor choice of words for the first World Cup to be held in Africa, hosted by a country who in the relatively recent past employed a system of government that divided its citizens based on the colour of their skin.

Folk etymology

The term wog is often given a folk etymology as an acronym for various phrases:

• Whole Of Government. Used to describe Australian Government-wide outsourcing contracts
• Working On Government Service, referring to Indians working for the British Raj, or referring to Egyptian labourers working on the Suez Canal during the British Occupation in the early 20th Century.
• Western/Westernized/Wild/Wily/Worthy Oriental Gentleman.

Evidence for these putative explanations is generally anecdotal. They may be considered backronyms.

See also

• List of ethnic slurs
• Nigger
• Wop
• Guido (slang)
• Anti-Italianism
• Richard Madeley

External links

• Wog Faq
• "Golliwogg.co.uk" An independent guide to Golliwogs
• NIBCO Technical Bulletin
• United Valves, Valve Standards in The Petrochemical & Refining Industry
• WOG